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Latvala tries to keep Volkswagen WRC expectations in check

Volkswagen is unleashing its Polo R WRC on the World Rally Championship field in 2013.

Jari-Matti Latvala says winning the Rally Sweden World Rally Championship event for a third time in February will be too much to ask of him and his new Volkswagen Motorsport team.

Volkswagen is completing a five-day test in Sweden this week with its Polo R WRC. Latvala won Sweden’s FIA World Rally Championship qualifier in 2008 and again last February during his stint with the works Ford squad. Despite the Finn’s record on the snow event and his extensive test program in Sweden, Latvala is ruling out more success on the Karlstad-based round in Switzerland, Feb. 7-10.

“I love driving on snow and always enjoyed it in Sweden,” said Latvala. “I hope to be able to fight for the podium places in Sweden, that will be fantastic but we have to be realistic and we can’t pressure ourselves too much. We’re a new team with a new car. You can do thousands of kilometers of testing, you can be very fast but when you do a rally it’s a different story. It’s a different stage every time and to see exactly where your pace is is difficult in testing.”

Rally Sweden forms round two of the 13-event WRC season. It consists of 22 stages over 339 kilometers with the start and finish in Karlstad and the permanent service park in Hagfors. Friday’s route is based in the Hagfors region, Saturday’s stages take place east of the town with the bulk of Sunday’s action taking place over the border in Norway.